Continental sports tire comes top in first summer tire test of the year

25/02/2016

Autozeitung tests 14 different tires; ContiSportContact 5 is ”far and away the best”

Asian budget tires “reveal striking weaknesses”

Hanover, February 25, 2016. In the first summer tire test of the 2016 season with 13 test disciplines, the ContiSportContact 5 took first place, well ahead of the runner-up. The experts from Autozeitung (issue 6/16) had assembled a field of 14 summer tire models from European, U.S. and Asian manufacturers. They put the tires through their paces on their test track and studied their performance characteristics on wet and dry roads. The tire size the testers selected was 225/45 R 17, which fits many different compact and mid-range cars.

With the test disciplines in the wet completed, the ContiSportContact 5 was already out in front. “When it came to braking, the Conti tire put all the others in the shade,” the journalists wrote. “Responsive steering, super grip, extremely safe,” they added. On dry roads too the sports tire developed in Hanover impressed the testers. “Top deceleration and firm lateral guidance in fast corners,” was how they described the tire’s performance. Summing up, the magazine wrote: “Extremely good grip in the wet and always safe: In this test the Conti tire is far and away the best.”

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Not for the first time, the test team from Autozeitung were less pleased with the budget tires from Asian manufacturers that were included in the line-up. All of the bottom three tires in the rating were from this segment and had to face sharp criticism for their performance in the wet. “The fact remains that you have to watch out with budget tires,” the Autozeitung testers wrote. “In some cases the lowest-priced tires in the test revealed striking weaknesses. Only the premium products turned in top performances – above all the Continental tire which, with its good characteristics all round, ran out a deserved winner in this test.”